Palazzo Vescovile

The first bishop's palace is dated 1231, not many years after the "contract" of 1207, through which the Municipality of Verona ceded the land of Monteforte to the Bishopric in exchange for Legnago, Tregnago, Roverchiara, and other localities.

Later, it was commissioned to be built in the second half of the 15th century by Ermolao Barbaro, a Venetian bishop remembered both for his pastoral qualities and for his initiatives in the field of construction.

He entrusted the design of the reconstruction of the palace to the engineer Michele da Caravaggio, who developed it on the site of a previous Gothic building, of which only a tower remained, inside which a chapel was created. He directed the work from 1457 until at least 1467.

Inside, it contains an elegant courtyard with a double loggia, all with red marble columns and a well in the center. The palace was originally crenellated, with high round chimneys and single-lancet windows on the first floor.

In the following centuries, the building underwent various interventions that significantly transformed its appearance, particularly on the outside. The most relevant modifications were made in the first half of the 16th century at the behest of Gian Matteo Giberti. The palace hosted for one night in 1581, Empress Maria of Austria, on her journey from Bohemia to Spain with her brother Maximilian.

During the Napoleonic era, Bishop Giovanni Andrea Avogadro, to avoid submitting to the French, took refuge in the palace in 1801, where he remained until 1805.

At the end of World War II, the bishopric was occupied by families of displaced persons and the homeless. The difficult situation prompted Bishop Cardinal Giovanni Urbani to sell the palace to the Municipal Assistance Agency to be used as a shelter for the elderly. Since 2002, it has been owned by the Municipality of Monteforte.